We rescued our one year-old Golden Retriever, Max, from an abusive home environment and thought our love alone would be enough for Max to recover. Instead, Max had separation anxiety and would climb any fence, or scratch through any door or window to get to us. My husband was out of patience when I decided to call Phyllis McGough at the Hill Country Bark Busters for help.
Phyllis observed both us and Max in action. We learned that Max thought we needed him to be an alpha pack leader because we were "sweet people". Phyllis taught us various practices and training drills. We learned to be calm, confident leaders which freed Max to be the loving, calm dog that he actually was. The story of Max does not end there. He went on to undergo a complete transformation. Max went through an AKC Good Citizenship course and followed that with therapy dog situational training. Now Max brings comfort to children in hospitals, or helps primary school students practice their reading skills every week while lying atop Max at the school library. Max went from being an abused dog to helping children, and in the process brought a lot of love and purpose to our family.
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